A right-wing politician wants the public’s help hunting for foreign-born criminals in Switzerland. Echoing the outrage in the U.S. over the shooting of black teenager Trayvon Martin, Swiss critics say this is the most dangerous kind of racial pro
Month: March 2012
Cinzia Pasquali had the honor of restoring Leonardo Da Vinci’s prized oil painting “The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne,” now featured at the Louvre. The assignment was 18 months fraught with nerves, in-fighting and endless int
It is considered common wisdom among Western analysts that Muslim countries are plagued with large families and ever-swelling masses of young people are a threat to stability. Only problem is all the hard evidence to the contrary.
A law introduced in the Russian Parliament this week aims to punish “homosexual propaganda” aimed at children. Critics are worried this is just another way to outlaw homosexuality.
How three African men escaping the civil war in Libya braved the Mediterranean Sea on a small fishing boat to find love in the most unexpected circumstances.
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Afghan Policeman Kills 9 Sleeping Officers
Taliban suspected after Afghan policeman kills nine of his fellow officers as they lay sleeping in a village in the eastern Paktika province.
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Annan calls for ‘immediate’ Syria ceasefire
Annan says “deadline is now” for Syrian troops to halt their assaults, as diplomatic momentum is put at risk.
French president compares the effect in France of this month’s seven murders by a self-proclaimed Islamic radical to the trauma of the Sep. 11 attacks in the U.S.
The new status symbol for China’s ultra rich businessmen: a private jet. But before this fad can truly take off, authorities have to loosen up strict regulations governing the domestic airspace.
As Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers fight to have his civil suit dismissed in New York, he faces an even more difficult legal fight in the French city of Lille. Stephanie Ausbart, the magistrate who has just charged DSK with “aggravated pimping,
The Turkish government wants to isolate the armed Kurdish rebel group PKK, while opening up to the Kurds themselves. Ankara takes a lesson from Europe’s recent past, with an eye on how Kurds in Iraq and even Syria will affect the outcome.
Did you say Cocoa Chanel? Daring designs, fancy hairdressers, lickable tattoos, edible clothes. Switzerland, which is chocolate heaven even on a bad day, is wearing its sweetest delicacies on its sleeve as the Salon du Chocolat comes to Zurich for the fir
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Toulouse gunman denied burial in Algeria
Toulouse gunman Mohamed Merah is to be buried in France after Algerian authorities deny permission for a burial.
Huge traffic jams snarl central Madrid, as Spain’s first general strike in more than a year kicks off with nine people slightly injured in demonstrations, including police officers.
Japan hangs three convicted multiple murderers, its first executions in almost two years, putting it back alongside the United States as the only leading developed nations to carry out the death penalty.
Chinese bureaucracy will soon deprive us of one of life’s immense pleasures: ordering ‘drunken shrimp’, ‘happy meatballs’ or ‘chicken without sex’ from a menu. These inventive, often poetic translati
It took only a few years for this little start-up to become a digital ‘what-to-do’ phenomenon: without any advertising, it has 800.000 readers and growing…
Thanks to new technology from a Chilean-based company, massive water playgrounds are popping up from Singapore to Santiago. Could it put an end to the eternal poolside v. seaside debate?
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If Egypt Loses Its Sense Of Humor
Essay: Egyptian comedian Adel Imam faces potential jail time for a series of allegedly “blasphemous” films from two decades ago. Much is at stake as the forces of free expression and pious Islam face off in “Arab Spring, the Sequel…”
German authors have found a new way of cataloging economic, social and environmental gaps between the Western industrialized world and developing countries. This sucky stuff atlas aims to heighten awareness of our wasteful society, a little bit of trivia
A Swiss mountaintop is not the place you’d expect the “world’s best smoked salmon” to come from. But the Balik farm sends its perfectly sliced and salted catch around the world, thanks to a secret recipe handed down fro
Syrian government forces keep up heavy weapons fire and siege tactics against opposition strongholds despite President Bashar al-Assad’s acceptance of a peace plan calling for the army to withdraw to its barracks.
Energy giant Total is trying to contain a gas leak that forced the evacuation of a well off the coast of Scotland.
To save time, money and staff, many German health facilities treat dementia patients with powerful drugs that serve no other purpose but to keep them quiet. By some estimates, the practice affects some 240,000 people in Germany.
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Pope meets President Raul Castro in Havana
Pope Benedict XVI meets Cuban President Raul Castro on the second day of his visit to the communist-run island, and is to meet Fidel Castro later.
The reassigning of US prosecutors away from foreign tax fraud cases is the latest sign that the standoff between Washington and Bern may be moving rapidly toward a final, negotiated settlement. Heads rolling at top Swiss banks may have helped pave the way
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Stalin And The Macho Cult of Mass Murder
History tells us that purges, show trials and other sadistic state policies were integral to the birth and expansion of the Soviet Union. But a new book focuses on how Stalin helped form the unique “boot and leather jacket-wearing” character of the Bolshe
Pyongyang has announced a satellite launch to honor Kim II Sung. China knows the real object of such a move is to reinforce the power of newly installed Kim Jong-Un. It will also raise the stakes in the region just when Beijing is badly in need of stabili
Interview: Anders Breivik is unlike any client attorney Geir Lippestad has ever had – and not just because of the ghastly number of murders he’s accused of. As Lippestad tells Le Monde, Breivik admits to killing 77 mostly young Norwegians and exp
A surprise victory turns the keys to Frankfurt city hall over to Peter Feldmann, the German city’s first Jewish mayor since 1933.
Exclusive: Alina Fernandez doesn’t expect to ever again see – or even speak with – her famous father, Fidel Castro. As Pope Benedict XVI visits Cuba, Fernandez tells La Stampa that she doubts a late-in-life conversion for her father. “He assumes
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Syrian government accepts Annan peace plan
Syria’s government accepts the peace plan put forward by the United Nations and Arab League envoy, Kofi Annan.
President Nicolas Sarkozy urges television networks not to broadcast video footage of three deadly shootings in southern France filmed by an al Qaeda-inspired gunman using a camera strapped to his body.
An NGO in India has started to use Google Earth satellite technology to shine a light on whole neighborhoods of wretched slums, which authorities had long pretended didn’t even exist. But not all are happy about what happens when people suddenly
Maoist rebels ambush a patrol team in central India, setting off a land mine and killing at least 15 paramilitary policemen.
Thanks to particularities of the Chinese language, China’s largest Internet service provider has launched a mobile app with a name — Weixin — that means “little message,” but also can mean something else. Its geo-location feat
Europe’s job seekers can expect tough years ahead. Cedefop, an EU agency, predicts slow employment growth will continue to come down disproportionately hard on the educated youth. Some are even asking if a university degree is still worth the time and mon
According to a new study published by financial communications network AMO, European firms are becoming more and more proactive in looking for financing from China. The enthusiasm is not shared across the West.
Determined to make their new pay-as-you-go garbage system work, municipal authorities in Yverdon are hot on the trail of trash cheaters. But before they can issue fines, the Swiss town must identify the violators – which means rifling through the refuse
Oscar-winning director James Cameron resurfaced after plunging to the deepest known point in the world’s oceans in his one-man submersible, making him the first man to travel alone to the near 7-mile depth of the Marianas Trench.